It’s that time of year: E3 is upon us, and after the blitzkrieg of last year’s dual console showcases out of the way it’s time for some games! Hopefully we’ll be getting announcements by the truck-load over the next few days – Microsoft and Sony hold their conferences tomorrow, Monday June 9th, while Nintendo will be broadcasting a Direct presentation the following day – and I thought I’d provide a quick run-down of the big things we can expect the major players at E3 to show us over the next few days. I say a quick run-down – I wasn’t expecting this to run to two-and-a-half thousand words when I started writing this afternoon…

Anyway! Let’s get started.

Microsoft
Phil Spencer, the new head of Xbox, has been talking up his company’s E3 plans quite a lot on Twitter of late, and he seems to be promising the world. We’ve been told that we can expect 90 minutes of games, games and more games – a mix of third party titles, first party exclusives and smaller games (presumably indies and downloadables). Microsoft has also been on a bit of a roll recently, announcing and showing off big projects pre-E3, with titles like Sunset Overdrive, Halo 5: Guardians and, most recently, Forza Horizon 2 making headlines. We’ve also had another short look at Remedy’s Quantum Break, which is skipping E3 in favour of Gamescom in August. So the question is: just what the hell are Microsoft going to show at E3?

Hopefully, it’ll be stuff we don’t even know about yet. We’ll no doubt see more of the games that have recently been shown off, but Microsoft must have some pretty big stuff up their sleeves if they’re willing to show off their big guns beforehand. Granted, Sunset Overdrive and Halo 5 were announced last year (albeit both with CG trailers) and Forza Horizon 2 has long been rumoured, but these are still massive titles that would have been expected to be fully unveiled at E3.

Spencer has also said that he is looking into bringing back older IP, encouraging followers to share their favourite original Xbox games to gauge interest and also letting us know that his favourite game is Voodoo Vince. Hmm… a hint, perhaps? There has also been talk recently of a reboot of original Xbox game Phantom Dust, a title from Panzer Dragoon mastermind Yukio Futatsugi that never saw release in Europe.

Speaking of older IP, one of the biggest rumours I’ve seen recently is the supposed re-imagining of Perfect Dark as a third-person action-adventure in the vein of Uncharted. The IP has been sitting dormant since the distinctly average Perfect Dark Zero helped launched the Xbox 360 back in 2005, and it’d be nice to see it re-emerge as a premier Xbox One game. Switching the game from an FPS would likely upset some, but the genre is fairly saturated at the moment and the Xbox doesn’t really have an Uncharted analogue, so an acrobatic third-person adventure could easily fill a gap in the lineup.

I have to admit I have no idea where this rumour came from – I’ve just read discussions about it on a couple of forums – but I’d absolutely love it to be true. Rare are still a talented studio, and they should be able to focus on other projects now they’re seemingly free from the albatross of Kinect. A few interviews recently have touched on the fact that Rare have a couple of unannounced things in the works, and I really hope this is one of them. If it is, I hope Microsoft give them all the creative and financial support they need to make Perfect Dark a top-drawer franchise once again.

Elsewhere, we can expect a large Halo presence at Microsoft’s conference. Hopefully we’ll see the Master Chief collection unveiled, the rumoured remaster boxset of Halos 1–4, and possibly something on Halo 5: Guardians. I imagine we’ll get another teaser for the latter, as it’s at least a year away at this point, and hopefully we’ll get a bit of story detail so that we can kick the speculation up a notch. Personally, I’d also be totally fine with Microsoft devoting a few minutes to the Halo television series, even if it might draw some ire from the usual suspects on forums.

I’m also hoping to see some gameplay of Fable Legends. I want to see if it will scratch my co-operative, class-based dungeon crawler itch. I think we might see a CG teaser for the new Gears of War game; it’s a bit too soon to expect gameplay, but Microsoft and new developer Black Tusk will surely want to remind us all that it exists. There has also been talk of a Japanese third-party exclusive for the Xbox One, with many expecting either a Vanquish 2 from Platinum or a Lost Odyssey 2 from Mistwalker. I’d greedily take either, but I’d hope to see something new.

Sony
Though I own all six of Sony’s consoles, none of them have ever been my ‘main’ platform for a generation. As such, most of their first-party franchises don’t have that strong a pull on me. The thing that could get me the most excited about my PS4 tomorrow night is a new WipEout game. Studio Liverpool was closed back in 2012 (and at the time a new WipEout was said to be in development), so I don’t know who could make it; perhaps Evolution, once they’re done with Driveclub? Either way, a new title in this venerable franchise would get me very excited indeed – WipEout 2097 is one of my favourite games of all time, after all.

It’s pretty much a nailed-on certainty that we’ll see Naughty Dog’s newest Uncharted adventure tomorrow night, and though I like the Uncharted games, after playing through 4 of them over the last few years, the franchise’s PS4 outing is going to have to be a bit different to get me really excited. Hopefully the studio can mix things up a bit, rather than give us the same thing, just shinier. I must admit to having been rather disappointed when it was announced last year; I wanted Naughty Dog to announce a new IP, since that worked out so very well the last time they did so.

Speaking of which, I imagine we’ll also get a gameplay demo of The Last of Us on PS4. I’m interested to see how nice it looks on the new hardware, though I doubt I’ll be buying it at launch. The Last of Us was one of my favourite games of last year (if not of its entire generation), but I feel it’s a bit too soon for me to play through it again. That game is one hell of an emotional journey, and I’m not quite ready to feel it all over again.

Meanwhile, Sony Santa Monica are set to make an appearance at the platform holder’s presser, and they’ve seemingly been teasing a new God of War title on Twitter. I can’t get even remotely excited about this, as God of War is another Sony series that just doesn’t really appeal to me. I’ve tried, many times, to get into the games as they look like something I should love, but I’ve just found myself bored every time. I guess they’re just not for me, which is a little sad as they’re clearly very well-crafted games. Perhaps a PS4 outing will change things up significantly? Fans have been suggesting changes in character, setting and even mythology for a while now – perhaps a Viking mythology-based God of War could catch my interest?

Hopefully we’ll also get a good long look at The Order: 1886. I’m a little unsure of it at the moment, as what little we’ve seen looks like a Gears of War clone, and honestly, if I want to play Gears, I’ll just play Gears. The setting has potential for sure, but I hope it’s not just wallpaper for another third-person cover shooter. The game has recently been delayed into early 2015, so hopefully the extra development time will allow Ready at Dawn to really go to town and build something genuinely new.

The most excitement surrounding Sony’s conference seems to be around FROM Software’s ‘Project Beast‘, which many are assuming is a sequel-of-sorts to 2010’s Demon’s Souls. Though I’ve not played Demon’s Souls (it’s sitting on my PS3 hard drive…), and I’ve only played a small amount of Dark Souls, I can see why people are getting excited for this. The two related franchises have a very dedicated, hardcore fanbase, many of whom hold that Demon’s is the better title, so a new instalment is going to be an instant E3 win button for them.

Guerilla Games are also reported to be appearing, bringing their next project with them. I’ve never been a fan of the Killzone series; the franchise’s PS3 debut was the game that convinced me to buy that console, and I ended up disappointed. I wanted a sci-fi shooter, but to me it felt more like one of the grey-brown trench shooters we were drowned in until a few years ago, just with a sheen of sci-fi futurism draped over the top that made no real difference at all. Having recently played through Killzone: Shadow Fall though, which fully embraces its science-fiction backdrop, I’m prepared to give Guerilla the benefit of the doubt and see what they bring to E3. Rumours say it’s an action-RPG, which will be something of a departure for the Dutch studio. Colour me interested.

Sadly, I think the Vita will be all but ignored again. It made sense last year when the PS4 was the focus, but Sony seem to be happy to let their handheld trundle along gaining a bit of a cult following as ‘that indie machine’. We’ll likely get a trailer showcasing a number of games we already know about, and that’ll probably be about it. I absolutely adore my Vita though, so I want to see more – I’m hoping for a proper reveal for Gravity Rush 2, sequel to one of my favourite new games of recent years, and maybe a bit of Freedom Wars, too.

On the hardware side, I think we can expect to see Project Morpheus taking a decent chunk of Sony’s conference, as well as the PlayStation Now streaming service. Perhaps we’ll get release windows and pricing for both.

Nintendo
One of the things I’m most excited about this E3 is the prospect of a new Zelda for Wii U. Nintendo supposedly considered showing it off last year, but decided it was too early in development at the time. It seems almost inevitable that we’ll see Link’s new adventure on Tuesday, and I’m really looking forward to it. The only downside is that, as Nintendo aren’t holding a live press conference, it won’t get the reaction it so sorely deserves. A new Zelda is a big deal, and it deserves a proper unveiling, rather than a reactionless showing on a live-stream.

There’s also hope for a new Metroid, another series I adore. Retro Studios are done with Donkey Kong (for the time being at least…), so hopefully they’re a few months into development on their next project. Of course, it could be anything at all (maybe they’d like to try their hand at Star Fox next?), but I really want to see a new Metroid for Wii U. Perhaps we could also get a 2.5D game for 3DS at the same time, but if a choice needs to be made, I’d love to see what Retro can do with the Wii U hardware – imagine a Prime title with the scale pushed right out.

Excitingly, Nintendo’s main man, Shigeru Miyamoto, is said to be working on an entirely new IP for the Wii U, something that justifies the gamepad’s inclusion with the console. Nothing is known about it at the moment, but the fact that the creator of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong and many others is creating something new is a pretty big deal. Hopefully it’ll be something that can stand alongside the company’s perennial pillar franchises.

Less surprisingly, I think we’ll also see more on Monolith Soft’s X, the spiritual successor to Wii RPG Xenoblade Chronicles. What little we’ve seen so far has looked impressive, but I’m hoping for a more in-depth exploration. Likewise Bayonetta 2, which we’ll hopefully finally get a date for. It is, after all, one of a handful of games that convinced me I needed a Wii U, so it’ll be nice to know when it’s coming.

On the handheld side, we’ll no doubt get another look at Smash Bros. before it releases this summer, as well as the Pokémon Alpha and Omega remakes. Perhaps we’ll also see a new title from Luigi’s Mansion 2 developers Next Level Games.

Others
A few of the big publishers will also be having their own conferences as usual. EA have said that they’ll be unveiling six new titles at this year’s E3, but whether these will be brand new games or known quantities remain to be seen. The publisher is expected to go big on Star Wars this year, with DICE expected to show off Battlefront 3, and maybe we’ll even get a glimpse at Visceral’s in-development Star Wars title. That game is supposedly being headed up by Amy Hennig, formerly of Naughty Dog – could it be something along the lines of the sadly-cancelled Star Wars 1313?

We can certainly expect to see more of Visceral’s other project, the recently-revealed Battlefield: Hardline, and the new Mirror’s Edge seems an absolute certainty now – the Facebook page has just been updated today with an image of Faith and the hashtag ‘#E32014’. Great news for me, as I’m a massive fan of the original game.

Square-Enix have recently announced that both Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3 will miss E3, which is surprising, given that they used Sony’s conference last year to announce both titles. It’s likely we’ll see more of both at Tokyo Game Show in September, however.

What will they be showing? My money is on a sequel to Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot, and I’ll be very happy to see it. I’ve recently finished playing through it on Xbox One, having already loved it on 360 at its original launch, and I absolutely adore it. I’d like to see a little less combat and a little more exploration and environmental puzzling in the sequel, but they have an excellent foundation on which to build, so I’m expecting great things. It’s possible we’ll also see the next entry in the Deus Ex series, too. I should really get back to Human Revolution…

From Activision, we can expect to see more of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare from Sledgehammer games. As an aside, I think it’ll be interesting to see a studio born from Visceral taking on Visceral itself, with one studio making a Battlefield offshoot and the other a CoD offshoot. Acti will also likely show a bit of Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition for PS4 and Xbox One.

From Ubisoft, I think we can expect to get full gameplay unveilings for both Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Far Cry 4. I’ll be interested enough to take a look, but I think I’m a bit burnt out on Ubisoft games at the moment. I’m sure both will demo well though.

So those are the major things I’m hoping and/or expecting to see tomorrow. If I had to pick a few things I’m most excited about, I’d say a new Zelda, the possibilities of new titles for both Metroid and Perfect Dark, and discovering what form Halo‘s 2014 release will take are right at the very top. I’m also hoping to see a fair bit of new IP on show, but it’s obviously harder to be excited for stuff that, as yet, doesn’t exist. Perhaps Guerilla’s new game will wow me.

What are you most excited to see? Leave a comment below (if you managed to read this far).

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah I am so excited!!! Reading through this has helped that a great amount. Every time a title was mentioned, that i forgot about it gave instant excitement! Hyped for The Order, I really hope it is going to be a good’n. Also Uncharted. Before I was in the same boat as you, with the thought off I’ve done this a number of times over. But then I think about long time running games and how many titles belong to the names. Now I’m bloody exited haha!!!